Replacements?
by threeonenine
Summary: Starts off where the anime ended. Ichigo has regained his powers and recently graduated high school. But when Urahara informs him of a message he received requesting their presence in soul society, his life changes and he is suddenly left with a lot of responsibility on his plate! Rated T for now might change in the future. Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or it's characters
1. A Strange Request?

Hey this is my first fic, i'm mainly writing this for fun and hopefully to improve my writing ability a bit as well. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

He looked down at the page in front of him. A mess of ink sprawled across the page. _'Last question'_, He thought to himself. This was it, he carefully read the question over, a slight smirk appeared across his face. _'Easy'_ He thought. After carefully inscribing the answer on the page he looked up at the clock on the wall. 11:30, he had finished half an hour early. With a smug look on his face he stood from his desk and walked to the front of the large gathering hall. Around him sat his fellow grade 12 students, most of them looking stressed as the time to finish their exams was slowly declining. He recognised a few of them as acquaintances from his classes and he saw Chad and Orihime in the far corner of the room struggling to finish up their exams.

As he reached the front of the room the examiner looked up at him. he threw his exam into the small pile beside her. Other than his it appeared that only three others had finished and put theirs in the pile. A sigh of relief washed over him as he thought to himself, _'Well, that's it. I am officially done with high school.' _He reached the exit and pushed the door open. A wave of pre-summer heat washed over his body as he stepped outside and took a breath of warm air.

"Took you long enough, Kurosaki!" He turned to his right and saw a smug looking Quincy boy seated on a bench with a massive novel in his hand. Ichigo scowled.

"Shut up, Ishida." Ishida's gave him an amused smile and returned his focus to his book. Ichigo began to walk home.

As he walked, he thought about what he was going to do now. He always figured he would take over the family clinic after he graduated, but the recent revival of his shinigami powers had changed a lot of things in his life. He was back to being a substitute shinigami. It had been three months since he had defeated Ginjo and Tsukishima with the help of the Gotei 13 but he hadn't heard anything from soul society since that day.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt the familiar power of a hollow nearby. While soul society did have a shinigami stationed in Karukura town he had proven to be rather unreliable, so often times even though he didn't need to, Ichigo took it upon himself to help out with hollows.

_'It sure would be nice if Af-san was a little more useful and actually helped kill the hollows around here!'_ Ichigo though as he pulled his substitute badge out of his bag. He left his human body in a nearby alleyway as he raced to the hollow's location in his shinigami form. He arrived at the hollows location and hoisted Zangetsu onto his shoulder. The hollow turned to see Ichigo standing on a rooftop beside him.

**"HAH! HAVE YOU COME TO DIE, SHINIGAMI?" **the hollow bellowed!

"You wish." Ichigo said as he flash-stepped right in front of the beast and brought Zangetsu down upon his mask. The hollow didn't even have time to look surprised as he disintegrated into the air.

"Either the hollows around here are getting weaker, or I'm getting better at this." Ichigo said to himself as he walked back to the alley where he left his body. As he returned his soul to his body and dusted his clothes off he felt a presence nearing him from the other side of the alleyway. He looked to see who it was and immediately recognised Tatsuki and Orihime walking down the street beside the alleyway.

"Hey! Orihime, Tatsuki!" The girls turned to look down the dark alleyway.

"Ichigo?" Tatsuki questioned. She was sure she spotted some distinctively orange hair in the alleyway. Ichigo stepped out into the light and and responded,

"Yeah." Tatsuki frowned and looked over to Orihime who seemed to be thinking to the same thing as she was.

"Ichigo, what the hell are you doing in a dusty old alleyway?"

"Oh, umm... I was just uh, stuff." This time Orihime spoke up

"Hollow?" Ichigo scratched the back of his head and grinned

"How did you know?" He asked

"... Intuition" She replied and smiled back briefly. Tatsuki just rolled her eyes and looked at him with a slightly bemused gaze.

"Mind if i walk home with you guys?" The girls both nodded and the three began walking down the street towards their homes

"So what are your plans now that you graduated, Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked.

"Uhm... I'm not too sure." He muttered, slightly embarrassed.

"Idiot!" Tatsuki yelled as she punched him in the stomach, "How can you graduate high school and still not have any plans! You've had your whole life to thing about it!"

Ichigo recoiled at the pain of Tatsuki's fist slamming into his stomach, _'Damn, she hits hard!' _He thought to himself. He could see his family's clinic in the distance, he turned to the girls, still clenching his stomach

"Aha yeah." he said sarcastically, "Anyways that's my house, see you guys later." He ran off towards his house as quickly as he could to get away from the clearly infuriated Tatsuki. Tatsuki just sat and watched with an angry look on her face as Ichigo ran off!

"That idiot." She muttered.

* * *

Ichigo slowed down as he reached the Kurosaki family clinic. He paused to catch his breath before walking up to the door and placing his hand on the handle to open it.

"WELCOME HOME MY SON!" Was all he heard as he opened the door into his home. His father came flying out of nowhere with his feet in the air as he attempted to kick Ichigo square in the face. Ichigo's shinigami reflexes kicked in as he hastily sidestepped and his father went flying past him and into the rose bush in front of the house.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU CRAZY OLD MAN!" Ichigo shouted at the rose bush his father had disappeared into. His father came flying back out of the bush and gave Ichigo a huge grin

"I see that now you have graduated your reflexes have become even faste-" He was cut off as Ichigo kicked him in the face.

"How could my son be so cruel to his old man" was all Isshin Kurosaki managed to say as his body sunk back into the rose bush. Ichigo sighed as he entered his house. He walked into the kitchen to get some lunch and saw his sisters were seated at the table already eating.

"Hey Yuzu, Karin."

"Icchy-nii!" Yuzu looked up and smiled at him

"Hey, how did your exam go?" Karin asked

"Ehh, It was pretty easy actually, I'm just glad that I'm finally finished with school" He said.

Karin smiled and said "Lucky."

"Would you like some lunch, Icchy? I made sandwiches and left one for you in the fridge."

"Ah, Thanks Yuzu." He said as he walked over to the fridge and grabbed his cold plastic wrapped sandwich from the fridge. He unwrapped it and discarded the wrapper into the garbage as he took a bite. Yuzu really was quite the impressive little chef, all the food she made was rather delicious. He finished his sandwich and went to his room.

* * *

Ichigo's eyes shot open. _Had he fallen asleep? _He looked up at his clock on his wall. 4:30. _'guess so.' _He really had been exhausted after his past week of exams and he felt very refreshed after his nap. He was in a good mood after his nap. That was, until he felt a familiar reiatsu approaching. His mood went from a good one to a confused one. He went to see what the big idea was. He heard a knock on his front door as he was leaving his room and he heard one of his sisters walking to get the door.

Yuzu got a strange feeling as she approached the door to answer it. She couldn't quite decide what it was but she found it familiar to the feeling her brother and father gave her when they got serious. As she turned the handle of the door and slid it open she gazed up at a towering blonde man with a strange green hat and some slightly flamboyant clogs on his feet. He had a unsettling feeling about him.

"Can i help you?" Yuzu asked the man timidly. He looked down at her and paused for a moment, he opened his mouth to speak but before any words came out he was cut off.

"What do you want? Urahara."

Yuzu turned around to see her orange haired older brother standing a few feet behind her. Ichigo had a stern look on his face, she began to feel nervous in the presence of the two men.

"My, my, Kurosaki-san your manners could use some work." Said the blonde man.

"What do you want?" Ichigo repeated.

The blonde man sighed, " I'm here to discuss some... business." he grinned slightly and briefly looked at Yuzu, then back to Ichigo.

"I'm going for a walk, Yuzu." Ichigo told her as he brushed past her and out the door pulling the blonde man with him and closing the door behind them. Yuzu stared blankly at the door and wondered what all that was about. She turned around and saw her father sitting at the kitchen table doing the same thing.

"What was that all about Dad?"

Isshin looked at his youngest daughter and put on a fake smile. "Don't worry about it, Yuzu. I'm sure Ichigo will deal with it."

* * *

"So, what's the big deal showing up at my house and all? Urahara." Ichigo asked as he walked down the street with the tacky blonde man.

"Well Kurosaki-san, Have you been to soul society since you regained your shinihgami powers?"

"No, I haven't even heard anything from them since that night."

"Ah well, I received a message today."

"What did it say?" Ichigo asked with a very confused look on his face.

"Your presence has been requested by the Captain-Commander, they wish to..." He paused. "... Speak with you."

Ichigo didn't say anything for a moment.

"Why?" was all he could think to ask.

A sizeable smirk appeared on Urahara's face "How would I know Kurosaki-san? It's not like I'm withholding any information from you." He said in his sarcastic sing-song voice.

Ichigo sighed. "I'll be at your shop tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock." was all he said before turning and walking back to his home, leaving Urahara alone in the middle of the deserted street.

* * *

8 o'clock in the morning. A particularly tired looking boy with bright orange hair and auburn eyes stood outside of a small local candy store.

"I hate this store." He said aloud to himself as he stepped up to the entrance.

"Hey, hat and clogs! You in there?" There was short moment of silence, then sure enough the door slid open to reveal none other than the flamboyant shop owner himself.

"Oh, Kurosaki-san! I was beginning to think you weren't coming!"

"What would make you think that?"

"Urahara just smiled and said "No reason in particular. Now, come downstairs I have prepared a senkaimon for us."

"Us? You're coming with me?" Ichigo asked, slightly annoyed.

"Of course Kurosaki, You aren't the only one with business in soul society!" Ichigo sighed and followed Urahara into his massive underground basement. Sure enough, at the bottom of the long vertical ladder, an opened senkaimon gate was there. The two shinigami gazed at it for a few moments before Ichigo spoke up.

"Boy, this sure feels nostalgic" It had after all, been over two years since he had been in soul society. He hoped he would get a chance to see Rukia and Renji soon.

"After you, Kurosaki-san." was all Urahara replied with.

They stepped into the senkaimon gate and it began to close behind them.

The journey through the precipice world was quick, neither of the shinigami spoke a word to each other. Each of them pondering their own thoughts.

Before they knew it, they had exited the senkaimon and were finally in soul society. They were greeted by a familiar looking white-haired captain.

Ichigo spoke "Hey, Ukitake."

Ukitake, who was not at all bothered by the boy's lack of formality when speaking to a captain, said, "Welcome back Kurosaki-san, Urahara-san. We have been expecting you. I have been instructed to escort you to the Captains meeting upon your arrival." He spoke in his usual kind, friendly tone. "Please follow me."

_'Captains meeting? Whats going on?' _Ichigo thought to himself as they were led throughout the seireitei, towards the 1st squad headquarters. The walk was quick as any souls or shinigami that were in the streets made sure to clear the way when they saw the 13th squad captain walking hastily through the streets followed by the former 12th squad captain and Ichigo Kurosaki, the _savior of soul society, _or so he had been named by the residents of Rukongai.

Ichigo could hear the whispers of the shinigami they passed,

_ "Is that really him?"_

_ "The savior?"_

_ "No way!"_

_ "Why is he here?"_

He did his best to ignore some of the gaping mouths and stares. Just before he had hit his limit and was about to say something. Ukitake spoke up,

"Here we are, now if you would please follow me inside. Oh, and Kurosaki?"

"Yeah?" Ichigo replied.

"Try to show some respect once we're inside." Ukitake teased with a smile.

"Hmph." Was all he could say as his face turned a slight shade of pink and he heard Urahara chuckle softly from behind him.

"Shut up, Hat and clogs! You're no better!" He turned and yelled at Urahara. The blonde candy store owner just smiled even more at Ichigo. Ichigo then turned around and noticed that Ukitake had already opened the massive doors leading to the captains meeting chamber and he now had 10 captain class shinigami staring at him. He thought he saw Byakuya roll his eyes for a moment.

The captains were assembled in two lines on either side of the Captain-Commander. All of the captains in order of their division number, starting with Soi-Fon's second squad all the way to Ukitake, who had moved to take his place as captain of the thirteenth squad. There were however, empty spaces where the captains of the 3rd, 5th and 9th squad would stand.

Ichigo looked at each and every one of them, finally setting his eyes on Captain-Commander Yamamoto

"Uhm... Hey." was all that came out of his mouth. "I- Umm...-"

"Ichigo Kurosaki!" Yamamoto's powerful voice booming throughout the hall. "I have brought you, along with Kisuke Urahara here today to discuss the future of the Gotei 13."

Now Urahara spoke up, "With respect sir, what does that have to do with Kurosaki or myself?" Ichigo looked at Urahara with a shocked look on his face, _'so he doesn't actually know why we're here?' _He thought.

"Things have finally begun to return to normal now, as you may be aware." Yamamoto stated. "After the defeat of Aizen soul society was in an unstable state of distress. We have now stabilized the soul society and things are now peaceful as they once were." He paused for a moment, then raised his voice again. "I owe to Kurosaki and yourself a dept greater than I could ever repay for saving Soul Society. However, the problem remains that there is still a lack of squad captains in the Gotei 13. There is also a lack of individuals skilled enough to fill the captains spots."

There was a long silence before Yamamoto began once again. "That is why I would like to offer the spot of 5th squad captain to Kisuke Urahara and the spot of 3rd squad captain to Ichigo Kurosaki."

Nobody said anything for at least ten seconds. Most of the captains stood and looked back and forth between Yamamoto, Ichigo and Urahara. Ichigo just stared at the wall behind Yamamoto with his mouth practically hitting the floor as he processed the Head Captains words.

Byakuya was the first to break the silence. "Captain, are you sure about this decision? It is not to be taken lightly! Kurosaki has only been a shinigami for a few years and Urahara if i need to remind you is the creator of the Hogokyou!"

"I am well aware of these things Captain Kuchiki. However, Kisuke Urahara was an essential piece of defeating Aizen and if i remember correctly Kurosaki had defeated you when your swords last crossed! Kurosaki's strength in battle and Urahara's experience and insightful mind are not to be taken lightly, and are both easily passable for captains level!

That seemed to shut Byakuya up as he hid his embarrassment behind a mask of indifference. The next to speak up was Toshiro Hitsugaya.

"Sir, if i am not mistaken wasn't Kisuke Urahara exiled from soul society?"

"Yes Captain, this is true. But, Urahara has proven to be invaluable. thus i have decided to give him another chance."

Another long silence plagued the chamber. All the focus was on the two guests from the world of the living.

"I will accept your offer, Captain-Commander." Kisuke said.

"I am pleased to hear that." Yamamoto replied. "Kurosaki, your decision?"

All the eyes in the room now passed to Ichigo. Everyone sat in a tense silence for at least another minute. _'Okay Ichigo, relax.' _he told himself. _'My decision? Shit, i don't know! How can they just dump this on me with no warning! _A few more moments passed as he sorted out his thoughts and finally sighed.

"All right, I'll accept as well." The tension in the room descended greatly as the Captain-Commander breathed a sigh of relief. With Kurosaki's acceptance he now only had to fill one more captains spot. Some of the captains in the room began quietly discussing with each other but they were all silenced as the head captain stood from his seat and bashed his cane on the ground, causing a booming thud to echo throughout the chamber.

"approach me." was all he said. The two men approached the captain-commander and Yamamoto handed them each a piece of paper "These are the contracts that must be signed affirming that you are a Gotei 13 captain, they must be signed here," he pointed to a small square at the bottom of the page, "in blood." Another quick moment of silence passed as the two soon to be captains skimmed over the contracts, neither of them really paying any attention to what they were reading, Urahara had already done this when he became captain of the 12th squad previously, so he was not particularly interested. Ichigo made an effort to intake what he was reading, but he was a little busy asking himself what the hell he was doing! Ichigo looked down at the little box where his blood needed to be placed. He brought his thumb up to his mouth, and took a small bite out of the skin. He then placed his thumb inside the small box on the page and when he lifted it off the page, a small smudge of his blood lay inscribed in the page. He looked up and noticed Urahara had done the same.

Yamamoto took the contracts from them and said, "I now officially pronounce Ichigo Kurosaki and Kisuke Urahara captains of squads three and five respectively." He then put his hands out in front of him and out of thin air two captains haori materialised in his hands.

"I present to you your captains haori gentlemen. Wear them with pride." Ichigo and Urahara reached out and grabbed the two haori and put them on over top of their shinigami robes. _'perfect fit.'_ Ichigo thought.

"Captains, you are dismissed."

* * *

I'd appreciate it if you dropped a review so i can know what you think. I'm open to suggestions of what kind of direction the story should take as I'm still not sure yet. Thanks for reading anyways, next chapter will be up within the week i hope!


	2. Goodbye Karakura, Hello Soul Society!

Alright, so here's the second chapter already. I know fast right? I doubt I'll be able to keep uploading at this speed, but I'll try. Anyways enjoy.

* * *

_ 'What a pain in the ass.' _Was all Ichigo could think to himself as he watched the captains file out of the first squad's meeting chamber. He just stood in place, not quite sure what to do. To his right, Urahara began to follow the other captains out of the large room. He turned to Ichigo briefly.

"My, my, look what we've gone and gotten ourselves into." He gave Ichigo and exaggerated grin. "I'll see you around, Captain Kurosaki." He snickered and walked out of the room. Ichigo turned back to get a glimpse of the Captain-commander. Yamamoto was staring at the boy, he was now officially the youngest shinigami to ever achieve captain's status.

"Is there a problem, Captain?"

Ichigo blinked and realised he was being addressed. "I... uh, uhm." He stuttered. _'Wow really intelligent thing to say, Ichigo.' _He thought to himself. He gathered his thoughts and finally said, "Sorry, I'm still just a little shocked. It's not every day you get asked to be a captain, right?" He chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head.

Yamamoto didn't seem to find his sarcasm very entertaining and Ichigo recoiled slightly as he saw the head captain's stern expression.

"This is a great responsibility, Kurosaki. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Ichigo thought about his words for a moment before formulating a response "Yeah... I understand that, sir." Ichigo muttered.

"Very well. I trust you know how to find the 3rd squad barracks?" The commander asked.

"Uh, yeah." He lied. He didn't want Yamamoto to think he was totally incompetent.

"Well then, you are dismissed Captain Kurosaki." The captain commander then turned and walked to the door tho his private chambers on the other side of the meeting room.

"Umm, sir?" Ichigo called to the captain commander.

"What is it Kurosaki?"

"I was hoping i could go back to the living world to inform my family and friends of my..." He paused for a moment. "Situation."

"Hmm... I see." The captain commander pondered Ichigo's words for a moment before speaking again. "Very well Kurosaki, I will give you until tomorrow to attend to your affairs in the living world. However, I do ask that before you go you will see 3rd squad lieutenant Izuru Kira and inform him of your recent promotion."

"Thank you, sir." Ichigo turned to leave.

"Oh and Kurosaki, I ask that you refrain from wearing your captain's haori until you begin your duties, tomorrow."

"Oh, yeah... Sure." Ichigo said as he slid his haori off. He folded it up and placed it underneath his shihakusho. as he opened the large doors to leave.

As he walked out he felt the fresh air of the Seireitei enter his lungs. The warm heat of the sun pressed down on his skin and he grinned ever so slightly.

"Beautiful day, eh? Captain Kurosaki."

Ichigo turned to see a man wearing flamboyant, pink, ladies kimono over his white captain's haori. A large straw hat covering the upper half of his face. All Ichigo could see was the slight smirk on the bottom half of his face.

"Oh, hey... Kyoraku, right?" He questioned.

The 8th squad captain looked up so Ichigo could see his eyes and smiled at him. "Call me Shunsui. After all, you're a fellow captain now."

"Yeah, I guess I am. Thanks... Shunsui." He chuckled nervously.

"Ah well, if you need anything Kurosaki, please don't hesitate to ask."

"You wouldn't happen to know where the 3rd squad barracks are, would you?" Ichigo blurted out.

Kyoraku laughed softly at the slightly annoyed Ichigo. "Of course, Kurosaki. Would you like me to show you?" He slowly stood and gave Ichigo a small smile before flash-stepping off to a nearby rooftop. Ichigo promptly dashed after him.

"I recommend sticking to the rooftops when you travel throughout the Seireitei, Kurosaki. You might hear things you don't like if the shinigami in the streets see a captain walking around lost."

"Yeah, I figured that out already." Ichigo replied as he and Shunsui swiftly jumped across the buildings. The Seireitei was a very large place but a proficient flash-stepper could cross it in mere minutes. I didn't take long before Ichigo saw a large fence surrounding what appeared to be the 3rd squads residence. As he drew closer he realised the sheer size of the place.

"Welcome home." Kyoraku said as they stopped in front of the main entrance. Ichigo looked back at him and thanked him for the favor.

"You should come out for a drink with me and Ukitake tomorrow night after you get back! After all, the best way to improve a friendship is to enjoy sake together!" Kyoraku spoke in a carefree, poetic tone.

"Maybe" Ichigo moaned. He wasn't too sure he wanted to see Kyoraku in a drunken state. "Thanks again! I'll see you around, Shunsui." He said as he walked away, towards to barracks. _'Alright, gotta find Kira.' _Ichigo thought. _'I guess i'll just ask someone.' _He searched the barracks for anyone to ask, but it was strangely desserted. Ichigo sighed as he leaned against the wall. _'I wonder why theres nobody around?' _It was at that moment, as fate would have it, a young female shinigami walked into the courtyard in front of him. She looked to be in her mid teenage years, although in soul society you could never actually tell. She had long, curly, bright red hair and small black glasses seated on her soft, curvy face. Her height was similar to that of one of his sisters, so that meant, pretty short. She walked with a concerned look on her face, that is until she saw Ichigo leaning on the wall on the other side of the courtyard. Her face lit up and it looked as though she breathed a sigh of relief as she walked in his direction.

"Excuse me!" She called as she drew near. "Do you know where I can find whoever's in charge here?"

"I was hoping you could tell me." Ichigo sighed.

"Oh, uhm... Are you a member of the squad?" She asked, confused.

"You could say that." He responded.

Her expression grew even more confused. "Well... Do you know where everyone is?"

"Nope." He replied.

"How can you be a member of the squad and not know where anyone is!?" She yelled at him.

Ichigo merely sighed and rolled his eyes. He started to open his mouth to respond to the somewhat irate woman, but was cut off by the voice of a familiar blonde haired lieutenant as he walked into the courtyard.

"Ichigo... Kurosaki?" Was all 3rd squad lieutenant Izuru Kira said as he walked into the courtyard.

The red haired girl turned around and noticed the lieutenants armband that Kira was sporting.

"Are you in charge here?" She asked him.

"Kira turned his attention to the girl, slightly annoyed he replied. "Yes, I am the 3rd squad lieutenant, can I help you?"

The girls face suddenly turned a deep shade of pink as she performed a deep bow, embarrassed that she had been so rude to such a high-ranking officer.

"Uhm... I-" She stuttered

"Are you from the academy?" Kira asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Then why are you here with Kurosaki?"

"Who? Oh... That orange haired guy? I was just asking him if he knew where you were because I uh... Got separated from the rest of the recruits." The girl said nervously.

"I see... Down that hallway to the right," He pointed to the nearby hallway, "You will find 6th seat Katakura with the rest of the recruits."

The girl hastily turned to leave, once again performing a deep bow before walking down the hallway to find the other academy recruits. Kira turned his attention to the calm, orange haired shinigami slouching against the wall.

"Kurosaki? Why are you here?" He asked in a relaxed tone.

"Well... I need to talk to you." Ichigo responded.

"Concerning?"

"The squad." Was all Ichigo said.

Kira froze as he remembered a message from a hell butterfly he received earlier that day.

* * *

_**Flashback**_

_ Kira was just finishing off the squads paperwork for the day. 'It sure would be nice if they would hurry up and send us a new goddamn captain already, I'm sick of doing all the paperwork by myself.' He thought. As fate you have it, that was the moment when a small black hell butterfly drifted through the window of his dusty old office and landed on his desk, directly in front of him. All it said was, "A new 3rd squad captain has been selected." The butterfly then rose back into the air, and out the window it had entered._

_**End Flashback**_

* * *

His mouth dropped wide open. "Wait... Are you-" Kira was cut off.

"I'm the new 3rd squad captain." There was a long silence that followed. Kira just stared at him. It made him feel uncomfortable.

"Hey, Kira? You alright?"

Kira blinked a few times and looked up at Ichigo. "Uhh Yeah, sorry. I'm just a little... Shocked that's all." Another long pause passed. "When I got a message saying there was a new captain I just wasn't expecting... You."

"Yeah, believe me when I say I was expecting to be given the position either." Ichigo said with a smirk.

"Well then I guess you understand how I feel." Another moment of silence passed before Kira took a step towards Ichigo and held his hand out in front of him.

"Anyways, welcome to the 3rd squad, Captain Kurosaki." He said with a slight grin.

"Ichigo stood to his full height and shook his hand. "Just call me Ichigo, I'm not really good with all that 'respect' stuff." Ichigo smiled back.

Kira looked back at him surprised, "A-Alright." He stuttered, marveling at how disrespectful it would be to call one's captain by his first name.

"Well, I'm off to the world of th living. I'll be back tomorrow morning to learn about... Whatever it is that you do here. I'll see you later, Kira."

Kira respectfully performed a deep bow as Ichigo turned to leave. "Yes, Captain." Ichigo just rolled his eyes and walked away. _'All this bowing and respect is gonna take some getting used to.' _He sighed and thought to himself as he made his way back to the Senkaimon gate.

* * *

Ichigo stood outside his family's clinic, his home. He carefully observed the entire building. He thought about all the memories that had been made in this house. He had just finished saying telling his friends that he was leaving.

He had asked them all to meet him at Tatsuki's house, since it was the closest to his own. Once they had all arrived, he told them his story from the moment when Urahara showed up at his front door, until the moment where he accepted the Captain's position. Everyone reacted differently to the news. Chad gave him his full support, stating that he was glad that Ichigo was moving onto bigger things. Ishida took the news with his usual insensitive indifference, but he told Ichigo that he was happy for him. Tatsuki didn't quite understand what was going on, as she was still relatively new to the whole 'soul society' stuff. But, she still gave Ichigo her words of encouragement. She understood he wasn't going to be around very much anymore, and it seemed like only yesterday that she was saving him from bullies back in elementary school. She smiled at the thought. Orihime, while she was still happy for her friend, was struggling the most with Ichigo's departure. She knew it was inevitable that they would be separated eventually when she left for university, but that still didn't mean she was be very happy about it.

"Promise you'll visit us when you can." Was all she told him as she sobbed lightly. Ichigo assured her he would. Tatsuki and Orihime both gave him a hug before he left and he shook Ishida and Chad's hand. He asked them to explain to his other friends from school where he was. After taking his last glimpse at his best friends, he left and began to walk to his house to say goodbye to his father and sisters.

As Ichigo placed his hand on the door and began to open it, he thought about what he was going to say. Surely his father would understand his decision, as he too was once a squad captain, but he was concerned how his young sisters would take the news. After all, Karin and Yuzu were especially attached to their older brother.

As he walked into the house, he noted the three figures sitting on the couch watching some strange Korean game show on the television. The first one to notice his presence was his father, as he turned his head backwards to look at his orange haired son.

"Hey, Ichigo." He said in a calm voice. HIs sisters whipped their heads around to look at him as they heard their father call his name.

"Hey! Icchy, your finally home!" His youngest sister called.

"Yeah, I am." Ichigo said in a slightly saddened tone. Thinking about how this wasn't going to be his home for much longer. "I need to talk to you guys about something." A confused look crossed all of their faces.

"Does this have to do with why Urahara-san was here earlier?" His father asked as his expression went from a confused one to a much more serious one.

"Yeah... Sorta." The room grew very quiet as everyone in his family waited to hear what Ichigo had to say. Ichigo decided that he shouldn't beat around the bush and said, "I was asked to take on the position of a squad captain in soul society."

...

"And I accepted." Another long moment passed as the tension in the room grew. Ichigo looked at his sisters very confused faces. But he was distracted as he heard a soft chuckle from his father.

"Takin' after you're old man I see."

A smirk grew on Ichigo's face as he looked to his father. "You wish." He replied.

"What does that mean, Icchy?" Yuzu asked.

"Well, you know how I run around and kill the monsters in the town?" He looked at Yuzu.

"Yeah."

"Well... Basically, the people in charge of that offered me a job as one of their leaders."

"Does that mean you're leaving home?" Karin asked. A saddened expression crossed her face.

"Yeah... Unfortunately." Ichigo replied softly. The two girls both looked at him as thought they had seem a ghost, and in reality, they had. The mood in the room dropped to a sad state.

"I'm sorry I won't be around too much anymore guys." Was all Ichigo could manage to say as Yuzu started to cry lightly. "I promise I'll try to visit as often as possible." Ichigo then walked over and sat down with his family on his couch. His sisters sobbed softly into his shirt as they leaned against him. He looked over at his father.

"Sorry, Dad."

"Don't apologize to me, Ichigo. I understand your decision." Ichigo just stared blankly at his father. He was going to miss his crazy old man.

"Masaki would be so proud." Was all he heard as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

As Ichigo made his way back to Urahara's underground senkaimon gate the following morning he couldn't help but think about all the things he was going to miss in the living world. He was starting a new chapter in his life now. It was a cloudy morning, and that made saying his final goodbye to his sisters and his father all the more saddening. He promised them he would come back to visit as soon as he got the opportunity.

As he reached Urahara's deserted candy shop he took one last look at his hometown before turning to enter, and find the senkaimon in his basement.

* * *

The new 3rd squad academy recruits had all assembled in the court-yard. They waited for someone to come and tell them what exactly they were doing.

"Hey, do you know why we're here?" One of the recruits asked another

"I have no idea. All the message said was for all the academy recruits to assemble in the courtyard at 9:30." The boy responded.

"Geez, it's almost 10! These guys sure are disorganised around here." One of them sighed.

The two recruits sat among the group and started playing with the grass in the courtyard, out of boredom. There was some slight chatter going on among the group. But it was silenced by the sound of a boy yelling.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME? YOU DIRTY PIECE OF TRASH!"

"I said, shut up."

"What was that?!"

"I said, SHUT UP!" The recruits in the yard were all silenced as they turned to witness the scene before them. A young red-headed girl, with small black glasses and soft features, sitting by herself on the ground, looking up at a very angry boy. The boy had long black hair, down to his shoulders. Some of it was wrapped in a few fancy looking braids at the front of his head. His face was sharp and his body was slender. He, like the girl, appeared to be in his mid-teenage years. He also had small slits of cloth resting in between the clean braids of his hair.

The small, redheaded girl looked at the boy in disgust. "You think you're so fucking great, just because of your stupid fucking clan, and I'm sick of listening to you go on and on about how fucking great you are! So I'll say it once more. "SHUT THE HELL UP!" She yelled at him

"HOW DARE YOU SPIT ON THE KUCHIKI NAME!" The boy yelled back as walked up to her, and grabbed her by the shoulders. He then lifted her to her feet and slammed her into the wall behind her. "I hate disrespectful trash like you." The boy said as he drew his zanpakuto. The girls eyes widened in horror as she saw the intent to kill in the boys eyes. She struggled to break free of his vice-like hold on her but failed. He was stronger than her. The other recruits stood and watched in complete silence. Nobody dared to say anything. The boy raised his blade above his head to strike. She didn't have any time to react, he was too fast. She just closed her eyes and flinched as she saw the blade that would be the end of her speed towards her throat.

She heard a dull thud followed by... Silence... _'Am I dead? I don't feel dead?' _She questioned. She creaked her eyelid open to look at what was happening in front of her. All she could see were the shocked faces of everyone around her. She opened her eyes a little more to fully observe the scene. The Kuchiki boy's blade was inches from her neck, she could feel the cold radiating from the steel of the sword. She looked past the blade and noticed something she didn't believe.

A man with bright orange hair stood in between her and the Kuchiki boy. HIs hand holding onto the boy's blade. He had caught it. Her eyes grew wide as she looked past him, at the face of her attacker. A look of shock and fear crossed his sharp features. It seemed as though an eternity passed before anyone moved.

Finally the orange haired man spoke, "I suggest you sheathe your blade." The orange haired shinigami then turned to look back at her. He gave her a light, friendly smile.

She stared in awe as she remembered him. "You-you're that guy from yesterday." She said, her voice trembling.

"Sorry, I don't think i got the chance to introduce myself." He looked at her. His comforting smile still apparent on his face.

"3rd squad Captain, Ichigo Kurosaki." He said as he let go of boy's the zanpakuto in his hand. She looked down and noticed his captains haori. _'How can this be the same guy from yesterday?' _She thought. Ichigo stood upright and looked back at the Kuchiki boy. "I suggest you think twice the next time you decide to attack someone in my squad."

The Kuchiki recruit swallowed, and performed a stiff bow. "My apologies, Sir." He choked out.

"Captain Kurosaki?"

Ichigo looked to where the voice came from and saw Kira, standing on the deck to the south of the courtyard.

"Hey, Kira." Ichigo called.

"Wh-what are you doing out here, Captain?"

"Oh, i was just... acquainting myself with the recruits."

"I see... If you could please come see me after you're finished. I need to discuss some things with you."

"Alright thanks, I'll be right there."

Kira turned and went back inside. Ichigo looked to the red-headed girl.

"Sorry, I didn't catch your name?"

The girl once again looked at him in awe. "H-Hikari Sayuri, Sir." Her faced turned red as she stuttered.

"Hmm... I'll see you around, Hikari." Ichigo said as he once again smiled at her before walking inside to find his lieutenant. Hikari's face turned an even deeper shade of red. He spoke to her as if they had known each other for years. She looked at the ground, to hide her blush.

"Oh, and don't try to kill each other anymore, please." Ichigo said casually as he disappeared inside.

* * *

So that's that, hope you like it. Once again i really appreciated reviews so let me know what you think, what you want to see, what parts you liked/didn't like? (Criticism is appreciated)

Couple reviews were posted on the first chapter so I'll answer here.

Phantom Claire: Are you french? The way you spoke in your review was odd and it let me to think that you're french and maybe used a translator to write your review? If you review again I don't mind if you write it in french, I am fluent in english and french so i doesn't bother to me. (Vous pouvez laisser ton critique en francais, Ca ne me derange pas :D)

BlueOwl: Well, i updated soon, hehe. Thanks for reading I'm glad you enjoyed. In response to your pairing question I'm sure that if i do decide to go with one it wont be ichigo/rukia or ichigo/orihime. I agree there are way to many stories with those two. But there's a good chance i won't have any pairings other than the canon ones in the story. (p.s Oh yeah Ichigo is gonna hate the paperwork!) :P

Also, i hope you don't mind my OC's, (There will be a few) I don't any of them will play a very big part in the story anyways.

I feel like I'm forgetting to say something but i can't remember so I guess I'll just leave it at that.


	3. The Captain's Responsability

Alright so here's the 3rd chapter, sorry it's a little short I had trouble finding inspiration to write this week, more on that at the bottom... Anyways enjoy!

* * *

"Hey! Kira, wait up!" The new 3rd squad captain called after his lieutenant as he chased him into the barracks. Kira stopped and waited for his captain to catch up to him, before continuing down the hall at a swift pace. Ichigo kept in stride with him.

"We've got to go over a couple of things before I introduce you to the squad members." Kira said.

"Okay, good. I've got a couple of questions for you anyways."

"Save your questions for after. I have asked the squad members to assemble in the main gathering room. They don't know why yet."

"Wait, now? I'm meeting the squad?" Ichigo asked, puzzled.

"Yes."

"Damn, that was fast. I just got here." Ichigo marveled.

Kira looked up at Ichigo and grinned. "Why wait? You're here full-time now. Best to get it out of the way early."

"Yeah, I guess." Ichigo grinned back slightly as they turned another corner and passed through a doorway.

Through the doorway was the what Ichigo imagined was the gathering room, due to the large group of shinigami "gathered" there. Nobody seemed to notice them as they walked into the room.

This was quickly remedied as Kira sternly called out. "Attention!" The room began to quiet down as the squad members all gradually turned to face the door they were standing in front of. A few eyes widened as they noticed either a man wearing a white captains haori.

"Now, I know lots of you must be wondering why you were asked here." Kira started. "I have some news to share with you." He paused. "As most of you who have been a part of the squad for more than two years already know, the squads captain position has been left unfilled ever since Captain Ichimaru left us." Most of the members faces turned a pale color as they remembered their deceased Captain. They were all shocked when they were told that Ichimaru was never a traitor in the first place, and that he died trying to stop Aizen. Ichimaru, although he was creepy and odd, was generally liked by most members of the squad. "I'm here to notify you all that a new captain has been assigned to the 3rd division." All of the eyes in the room then shot to the orange haired shinigami beside Kira. Their eyes grew even wider as they took note of his white captain's haori. Ichigo saw a few of the members jaws hit the floor as they recognised him as the man who defeated Aizen. Kira then pointed to Ichigo and said "Everyone, this is Ichigo Kurosaki... The new 3rd squad captain."

A few extra mouths flew wide open as they recognised his name. _'The savior of Soul Society.'_

Ichigo noticed everyone was watching him. Waiting for him to say something. "Oh, uhh. Yeah, like Kira said I'm the new captain here." He felt the tension in the room drop as Kira spoke up again.

"Alright everyone, back to your duties." He clapped his hands together twice to get their attention. He then looked to Ichigo and gave him a nod in the direction of the door.

As Ichigo followed him out into the hallway behind them and back to the courtyard. The recruits were now nowhere to be found. They crossed to the door on the other side of the courtyard and strolled through it. To his right was a large open field, loaded full of what seemed to be a well equiped practice environment. In front of him was another building, much smaller than the main building in comparison, but still impressive in size.

Kira walked to the building and said "This is the Captain's quarters, your room and office are in here, as well as the lieutenants office." He opened the door and beckoned inside. The entrance of the room was simple. There were only two doors in the room other than the entrance. One straight ahead and one to the right.

"The door in front of us is the lieutenants office." Kira opened to door to reveal a crammed but tidy office. A small desk sat in the middle, covered with all sorts of papers and folders. A large window sat in the wall behind the desk, allowing the bright sunlight to penetrate through to the office.

"This is generally where you can find me throughout the day." Kira said as he turned and shut the door behind him. He walked to the door to the right. "This is your office." He opened the door to reveal a larger version of the office he just saw, minus the papers sprawled across the desk.

"Over there are your personal quarters." Kira pointed to a door to the left of the desk. Ichigo stepped into the office and took a look around. He noted a few paintings sprawled across the walls in an unorderly fashion. A large file cabinet was situated in the corner, beside the door. Ichigo walked over to the door to his 'personal quarters.'

Before entering the room he turned back to look at Kira who was standing frigidly near the office door. "What are you doing?" He asked the blonde lieutenant.

"It is forbidden to enter the captain's room without an invitation from the captain himself." He responded.

"Well then, by all means consider yourself permanently invited."

Kira walked into the room, still a bit stiffly. "Thank you." He said as he performed a bow.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Bowing and all that shit. I didn't do anything to earn that kind of respect from you."

"You became my captain."

Ichigo scowled. "Captain's just a fancy title. I don't want to be treated like I'm better than everyone else because of it."

"Yes, Sir."

"Don't call me sir."

"Yes Captain."

Ichigo breathed a massive sigh. "Kira?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

* * *

The sun shone through the large window in Ichigo's new room. His eyes creaked open as he took in his surroundings. He would have to get used to waking up in a room other than his own, back in Karakura town. He sat upright and stretched his arms behind his head as he yawned, his clock read 7:30 AM. He stood up he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He walked over to the large window and looked out upon the large forest that lay behind the squad barracks. _I guess I could get used to this.' _ He smirked as he walked to his private washroom to prepare for his day.

As he stepped out of his room and into his office he noticed a few things he hadn't before. A large stack of papers sat neatly on the corner of his new desk alongside a few folders. He took a step out of his office with a puzzled face and found Kira, sitting in his office with the door partially open. He was filing a few folders away in his small cabinet when he looked out his door to see Ichigo gazing in upon him.

"So... I got a question for you." The orange haired boy asked.

"What is it?" Kira responded.

"What is it exactly... That a captain does?"

Kira smirked. "Honestly, your main job is just to set an example as a strong member of the Gotei 13 to the squad. You also are expected to make sure that everything in the squad is running smoothly while also completing the daily paperwork."

_'Daily paperwork... Well, fuck." _Ichigo sighed. "Would the squad paperwork happen to be the stack of papers and folders sitting on my desk?"

"Yes."

"So, what do I do with it?"

"You fill it out."

"No Shit?"

Kira stood up and walked out the door and into Ichigo's office. He grabbed one of the papers off the top of the stack as Ichigo followed him into the room.

"Most of these are just squad transfers and reports. Transfers are easy, all you do is read over the document, decide if you will accept someone from either another squad or the academy, then you initial here and sign here." He pointed to two blank boxes on the page. "You'll mostly be getting these for the majority of your paperwork, as we are recruiting heavily. We lost a lot of members during the war."

"Still recruiting? After two years?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, most people are not too fond of risking their lives, so it's hard to find good recruits these days. You would be surprised to hear that over 70% of all the members in the squad have only just joined sometime in the past two years. Thats the highest amount of rookies in any of the Gotei 13 squads."

"Over 70%? How many people are in the squad?"

"only 68, The lowest number of all the Gotei squads."

"Why so few?"

"Because for one, nobody wanted to join the squad without a captain for the past two years, and the captain-commander wouldn't send us very many recruits from the academy because of that. Of course, that's all changed now so it's likely we will start to see an increase in recruitment."

"Hmm... I see. What about the report papers?" Ichigo questioned.

"Reports are just as simple. Whenever our members complete an assignment they will write-up a report and send it to you. All you have to do is read them over and then submit a report of your own to the captain-commander at the end of every week, detailing the squads recent activity." Kira explained.

"Alright. Anything else?"

"No it should just be that, I filed everything that wasn't a report or transfer out of that pile. I'll complete those papers for you."

"Oh, thanks. You sure you can do it all by yourself?"

"Well, I've been doing it all by myself for the past two years just fine, so if anything you're making my job easier. Besides, I like doing paperwork, I find it relaxing."

"Seriously?" Ichigo asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, it's honestly not that bad once you get used to it."

"Sure... Uhm, thanks again." Ichigo said as Kira dismissed himself.

_'Damn, I just got out of school and now I have even more paperwork to do! God what was I thinking when I agreed to this?' _He thought as he sat down and got started reading through his work.

* * *

Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief as he sorted through his final transfer of the day. It was now almost 5:30. _'Well that occupies a good chunk of my day.' _He thought. As he rose and stretched his arms he noticed the sun outside was now brighter than ever. He could feel the heat radiating in from his window. He stepped out of his office and sure enough, he found Kira in his own. He was once again sifting through the large mess of papers on his desk?

"How do I get to the 13th division barracks?" Ichigo asked.

"Just head East from here, its right in the middle of a huge pond, you won't miss it."

With that Ichigo left the building and jumped to a nearby rooftop. As he soared across the building in the seireitei, he noticed a few changes since the last time he had been there, two years ago. All the streets were now dirty and the pavements cracked. It looked a bit like a slum. _'The war really did hit them hard, half the seireitei looks like it's in poverty now.' _He also noticed a few 'sleazy' looking people wandering around the streets. _'I must be in one of the bad area's or something, it didn't look like this back by the 1st divisions headquarters.' _He spotted the pond that Kira spoke of in the distance and quickened his pace. As he drew closer to the pond he recognised a familiar group of buildings built around it. The 13th squad barracks were just like he remembered them. He made his way to where he knew the Captain's office was, he didn't want to be bothered by using the main entrance.

Jushiro Ukitake was peacefully meditating in his office when he sensed a powerful spirit pressure approaching. He opened his eyes to see then new, 3rd squad captain.

"Yo." Ichigo said.

"Good afternoon, Kurosaki. Can I help you?"

"Yeah... I was wondering if you knew where Rukia is?"

"She's on an assignment in the world of the living."

_Ichigo's_ face grew sullen. "When's she getting back?"

Ukitake paused for a moment and thought carefully about his next words. "Only two more months." He said joyfully.

"Two months? Well, shit." Ichigo pouted, he was looking forward to the look on her face when he told he about his new position. _'Well I guess that's gonna have to wait.'_

"Don't worry, Ichigo. I'm sure she'll still be surprised when she gets back." Ukitake smiled as he practically read Ichigo's thoughts.

"Yeah... I guess so." He responded.

Their conversation was interrupted by a flamboyant, pink kimono wearing captain walking into the room.

"Heey, Ukitake... Oh- and Ichigo too? My two favorite people." Kyoraku winked at Ichigo.

"Hey, Shunsui... What's up?" Ichigo asked.

"Oh, I was just stopping by to see if Ukitake wanted to come out for a drink! Oh, but Kurosaki you should come as well! What do you say."

"I-I uh..." Ichigo stuttered

"Great so glad you decided to come!" Shunsui interrupted him casually as he put his arm around Ichigo's shoulder and began to pull him out of the room.

"Oh, just wait until you get a taste of some of the sake they have here! Much stronger than that stuff you have in the world of the living, you're going to love it, Kurosaki!"

_'Oh god, what have I got myself into.' _Was all Ichigo thought as he was pulled off to a nearby bar by Kyoraku.

* * *

Sorry, if you found this chapter a little boring. ACTION TO COME I PROMISE!

Okay so i know, it's short. But I was having trouble finding inspiration to write this week. Hopefully that will change. I got an idea of where i wanna go with the story now though so hopefully that helps. I also sorta decided on a schedule, I'm gonna try to release a chapter every sunday. Hopefully I can start to write some longer chapters too. (There might be exceptions...) I also wanted to ask what you guys think about it. Would you rather I release shorter chapters more often, or longer chapters less often?

After reading over my last chapter i realized my grammar and spelling is terrible sometimes, hope you don't mind I'll do my best to improve it.

Also thanks to those who reviewed

_Evolutionary: _Not sure about pairings yet if any, won't be ichi/ruki or ichi/orihime if there is one that's all I know.

_Bleach Maniac 93: _WTF lol you... I have no words to describe my feelings towards this review...

_Phantom Claire: _hey, je suis content que tu aime l'histoire, il faut attendre un peut plus pour voir la reaction de Rukia :P mais je crois que je vais avoir Renji dans la prochaine chapitre. Tu verras ce qui arrivait a son corps vivant dans les chapitres du futur. huehuehue... Je crois que je vais aussi avoir du action entre Ichigo et Kenpachi dans la prohaine chapitre. Oui je lis les scans mais je suis pas rattrape au plus recent, mais j'aime la nouveau (arc?) c'est beacoup plus sombre mais c'est quand meme bon. De toute facon merci pour la critique, je m'excuse si il y a beacoup de fautes de grammaire dans mon ecriture lol c'est pas mon premiere langue, j'espere que tu peut quand meme lire lol.

To the rest of you who reviewed but didn't ask any questions, thank you and ill hopefully see you again next sunday!


	4. Disappearance

Slightly longer chapter this time to make up for last week, as always enjoy!

* * *

Kyoraku's bar of choice was a musty old shack just outside of the seireitei walls, despite its questionable apearance from the outside it was actually surprisingly well-kept on the inside. It was small, and not very busy, but it carried an odd sense of comfort about the place. The place was mostly empty other than a few occupied tables at the back, a few people sitting by themselves at the bar, the bartender and a waitress cleaning tables. The bartender's face lit up as he saw Kyoraku drag Ichigo into the bar, with Ukitake close behind.

"Shunsui! My favorite customer, I'm so glad to see you!" The bartender called.

"Satoshi, it's been a while. I hope you don't mind me bringing a few friends."

"Of course not! I'm always overjoyed to serve new customers. To whom do I owe the pleasure?" The bartender asked kindly.

Ukitake stepped forward and introduced himself. "Jushiro Ukitake, pleasure to meet you."

"Ah the pleasure is all mine sir." He replied with a courteous bow.

Ichigo took the chance to introduce himself. "Ichigo Kurosaki, how's it going?" He said casually as the man rose from his bow.

"Wait... Is it possible that you are the famous Ichigo Kurosaki? The hero who defeated Aizen."

Before Ichigo had a chance to blush, a slender blonde girl sitting at the bar spoke up.

"Did you say Ichigo Kurosaki?" She said as she turned and looked at the three captains approaching her.

Shunsui recognised her immediately and cried out her name in a gleeful tone "Oh, Matsumoto, what a nice surprise to see you here!"

Matsumoto replied politely "Well, it's a lovely day for some sake don't you think?" Kyoraku nodded in reply as Matsumoto noticed the orange haired boy accompanying him.

"So it's true then, I thought it was just a rumor. You really are back, Ichigo." She said.

"Yeah." Ichigo replied as he followed Kyoraku to take a seat next to her.

Matsumoto was about to speak when something caught her attention. _'Is Ichigo wearing a white haori?' _She blinked a few times as she tried to dispel the illusion she thought she was seeing, she assumed she had drunk a little too much.

Ichigo noticed her eyeing him and spoke up. "You're not imagining things." Was all he said.

She looked up at his face and stared at him blankly for a few seconds before a small smirk appeared on her lips. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"You shouldn't?" Ichigo questioned.

"Are you kidding? You defeated Aizen when nobody else could! Captains are supposed to be the strongest of all the shinigami, obviously you deserve the position." She said with a warm smile.

"Yeah... I guess I never really thought about it that way." Ichigo muttered in return.

"Which squad?"

"Three."

A short flash of sadness crossed Matsumoto's face as she remembered the old 3rd squad captain. "I'm glad someone like you is in charge of Gin's squad, Ichigo." She said quietly.

"Someone like me?"

"All I'm saying is that you're a good guy, I'm sure Gin would be happy that his squad was passed onto someone strong, like you. I'm sure you'll be a great captain." She gave him one last smile before turning to down her cup of saké.

Kyoraku noticing the mood of the room was taking a turn for the worst, spoke up "How about a drinking game?!" He yelled joyfully.

The other three shinigami turned their attention to the 8th squad Captain.

"Whoever can drink the most sake in the next hour gets all their paperwork done by the other 3 for the rest of the week."

Ichigo paused and considered the proposition for a moment. _'No paperwork for a week?' _He decided that after what he experienced earlier that day, no paperwork was too good to pass up

"Your on, Shunsui!" Ichigo said. The bartender jumped up and down in joy as he served the four their first round of drinks.

"I'm already drunk but I'm far from done!" Matsumoto said as she tipped her cup back. Ichigo saw Kyoraku and Ukitake do the same and he followed shortly after. As the sake tickled his tongue he gaged slightly at the strong taste. He was about to spit it out when he remembered what was at stake, '_NO PAPERWORK FOR A WEEK.' _He downed his entire cup in one huge gulp.

* * *

"I WIN!" Ichigo slurred as he looked around at the three drunken figures passed out around him. He looked up at the bartender in his drunken state and showed him a massive grin.

"Well done, looks like you can really handle your alcohol." The bartender praised.

Ichigo was about to say something in return when he suddenly felt his head get extremely light. All he heard was the sound of the bartender chucking as his head hit the table in front of him.

* * *

As light began to pass through his closed pupils, his senses began to return to him. Along with those senses came a nasty headache, pounding in his mind. He felt his face laying against a cold surface and as he opened his eyes, he remembered where he was. His head shot up and looked around. He spotted the bartender in front of im polishing a glass.

"Did I win?" Was all he could think to ask. He didn't remember

"Oh yes, it was quite entertaining if I do say so myself." The bartender snickered.

Ichigo took note of his surroundings and saw that the bar was not deserted, he was the only one still there.

"Where did-"

"They left about fifteen minutes ago. They asked me to tell you that they will keep their end of the deal, and do your paperwork for a week."

"Oh..." Was all Ichigo said, even though he felt the joy rising inside of him. He had a hard time conveying happy emotions with his head pounding as hard as it was.

"Now if you don't mind, I would like to close my bar. So I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The man said in a kind voice.

"Oh yeah sure... uh, sorry i didn't catch your name?"

"Just call me Satoshi."

"All right, See you later Satoshi." He waved goodbye as he walked out of the bar and dashed back to his barracks.

* * *

Ichigo's week passed rather quickly, he was deeply saddened when he awoke one morning and saw a stack of paperwork sitting on his desk. He didn't have much to do all week, so he frequently found himself out in the quiet forest behind his barracks. There he trained up his shinigami skills, he was rather rusty at first, but after the week was over he was in peak fighting condition as he once was. He also found time to re-aquaint himself with Zangetsu, who helped him in his training. The news of his captaincy was now spread all throughout Soul Society and it didn't take long before Renji found him. They spent a considerable amount of time training together. Renji was frustrated at first that Ichigo had been given a Captain's position and he hadn't, however after Renji got his ass whooped in a spar with Ichigo he remembered just how strong Ichigo truly was.

The orange haired captain sighed in frustration as he made an effort to mae it through his paperwork. He was nearing the end of the pile. That was when a small, black hell butterfly flew in the window of his office and perched itself on his desk.

_"All Captain's are to immediately report to the first squad for a mandatory meeting."_

Ichigo watched as the butterfly lifted off and left out the window it came in. Quickly, he finished the report he was currently reading and placed it in his 'finished' pile. He stood and walked out of his office. He rapidly dashed across the rooftops towards the first divisions meeting chamber.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he entered the large meeting hall, he wasn't the last to arrive. He took his place at the front of the line of captain's, to the right of Yamamoto and beside Urahara. The Captain-commander seemed eager and distressed, he clearly was not keen on waiting for the rest of the captains to arrive.

After a few minutes of silence, all the captains had assembled and were waiting to be addressed. Yamamoto cleared his throat with a loud growl as he stood to speak

"Three weeks ago, Rukia Kuchiki was sent to the world of the living to investigate a recently discovered abnormality of spiritual pressure." Ichigo and Byakuya both immediately became more attentive as they heard Rukia's name.

Yamamoto continued. "She had been sending us daily reports detailing her investigation up until yesterday, when her report never came. We assumed she had simply not been able to send it due to some sort of manageable circumstances. However, we also did not receive one today and after searching for her spiritual pressure, we could not find it. Rukia Kuchiki has been officially deemed missing in action."

Byakuya's eyes widened at this. "Sir, how can this be possible? Are you suggesting that something has happened to Lieutenant Kuchiki?" He made an effort to rid all emotion in his voice, but it was clear that he was rattled by the situation.

"I do not know, Captain Kuchiki. But we must realise the possibility that such a thing has happened. The strange spiritual pressures she was sent to investigate have also disappeared along with her." Byakuya grew uneasy as he thought about Rukia missing. The entire room was void of conversation for a few moments. The whole time Ichigo was fighting the urge to speak out-of-place.

"It has been decided that something must be done. Due to the severity of the situation I have decided to send Captain's Toshiro Hitsugaya and Ichigo Kurosaki along with Lieutenants Isane Kotetsu and Momo Hinamori to investigate." Ichigo silently cheered to himself as he heard his words. He was glad he got to be the one sent on Rukia's 'rescue' mission. "Captain's," Yamamoto looked to Ichigo and Hitsugaya, "Your objective is to locate Rukia Kuchiki and neutralise any possible threats as you see fit. You will be sent without limiters due to the high possibility of strong enemies on this mission." The captain-commander paused for another short moment. "Captain's Unohana and Urahara I ask that you inform your lieutenants of their assignment. You will depart at dusk, Kurosaki, Hitsugaya. You are dismissed.

With that, the captains began to file out of the room. Urahara wished Ichigo some 'fake luck' before he left.

Before turning to leave Ichigo turned to Yamamoto and asked, "Why me?"

Yamamoto raised an eyebrow at the young captain. "Not only are your abilities in combat above that of a normal captain, but you are also the captain who is most familiar with the world of the living, and Karakura town."

"Wait... Karakura town?" Ichigo asked, puzzled.

"Yes, your mission is in Karakura town. Due to it being situated on the jūreichi the spiritual pressure in the area is extremely high, therefore increasing the chances of spiritual abnormalities, such as the one Kuchiki was investigating to appear."

"I see... Thanks, Captain." Ichigo turned and walked out of the building.

* * *

Ichigo left for the senkaimon gate early, he was there an hour or so in advance. He sat down and closed his eyes by the gate to kill the time. He thought about his memories in Karakura town, his friends, his family. Then he thought about his new life in Soul Society, his shinigami friends. His mind continued to wonder, he thought about what if he never got his shinigami powers? What would his life have been like? Would he even have a life, would Aizen have been stopped? All these questions he pondered momentarily before snapping back to reality. _'Bah! Who cares about all that stuff, I'm here now and this is my life!' _He thought as he scoffed at himself, dwelling on the past. He didn't even realise Hitsugaya standing right beside him until he opened his eyes again. He was startled by the small white haired boy, sporting a serious expression as he gazed into the distance. _'Someone should paint a picture of this kid.'_ Ichigo joked to himself.

"Hey... Toshiro." He said.

"It's still Captain Hitsugaya to you, Kurosaki." The boy replied, he knew Ichigo would continue to call him by his first name no matter what he said.

"Why are you here so early? We aren't scheduled to leave for at least another hour."

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Eh? I just got nothing better to do. You know? Being a Captain is pretty easy." Ichigo teased.

Hitsugaya didn't appear amused, he just responded stoically. "fair enough." The two continued to sat there in silence, Ichigo felt like he started to doze off slightly. The hour passed quickly, not another word was said between the two captain's. Though they both wouldn't admit it, they didn't mind each others silent company in the slightest. As the sun finally left view and descended down from view on the horizon, two figures approached quietly from the deserted street. They were walking side appearing to be chatting quietly with each other. Until they spotted the two boyish looking Captain's patiently waiting in the distance beside the senkaimon gate.

Ichigo's eyes fluttered open as he felt the spiritual pressure of the two female lieutenants arrive. He continued to sit comfortably in his position, leaning against the senkaimon.

"Yo." He called out as they neared.

The 4th and 5th squad lieutenants looked at each other, then back to the captain's before Hinamori spoke up. "My apologies, Captain Kurosaki for our tardiness."

Ichigo grinned back, "Why is everyone around here so goddamn nice? Toshiro? How come you aren't that nice?"

Hitsugaya just rolled his eyes, and stood up straight. "You guys ready?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Yes, sir."

"Sure."

"Alright let's go then." Hitsugaya said. Ichigo lazed off his ass and stood to his full hight as he stretched his arms and legs out. Hitsugaya placed his sword into the senkaimon gate and twisted it like a key, opening the path to the precipice world.

As they stepped out of the gate on the other side, the cool summer air of the living world entered their lungs. Ichigo took a huge whiff of the fresh oxygen, It smelt like home to him. Their gate had appeared in the middle of what seemed to be a forest, beside a calm, soft flowing river.

"So how do we find Rukia." Ichigo asked.

"We don't really know anything about Kuchiki's disappearance other than she was here investigating a strange spiritual pressure and that she hadn't found anything." Hitsugaya replied. "This senkaimon has opened at her last known location before her disappearance."

The two captains just stood still for a few moments as they silently went over how they were going to search for Rukia when Isane spoke.

"Is it just me or does anybody else feel the extremely heavy spirit pressure in this area?"

"I feel it as well." Hinamori replied.

Ichigo looked down at the girls beside him and noticed they were both sweating and breathing heavily. "I can too." He said nervously. He looked at Hitsugaya who just shrugged.

"It's minor, but I can as well." A puzzled look grew on his face.

"Can either of you tell where its coming from?" Ichigo asked.

The female lieutenants looked to each other and silently agreed, they pointed deeper into the forest, following the river. "Over there." Ichigo immediately turned in the direction and began to travel that way.

"Kurosaki!" Hitsygaya called. "We don't know anything about this reiatsu or where exactly its coming from! You're just going to run into it?!"

"There's only one way to find out isn't there." Ichigo turned back and continued at a swift pace, "Don't tell me you're afraid? Toshiro?"

Hitsugaya's face became a light shade of pink at Ichigo's remark. "It has nothing to do with fear, Kurosaki! It has to do with having some sort of plan, not just barging in there!"

"Alright, you stay here and make a plan while I go find Rukia." Ichigo continued on his way.

"Hitsugaya sighed deeply, "This guy..." He said as he motioned Isane and Hinamori to follow him, as he set off after Ichigo.

It didn't take long before both girls stopped dead in their tracks, hardly able to breathe.

"This reiatsu, it's so heavy!" Isane cried out. Hinamori nodded in agreement. Ichigo and Toshiro once again glanced at each other, they both agreed that it was indeed, extremely heavy reiatsu.

"What could be causing this?" Ichigo wondered out loud.

"I don't know, but we're turning back." Hitsugaya said.

"Yeah, we shouldn't keep going if half of us can barely stand." Ichigo agreed. With that they turned to head back and Ichigo noticed the strain Isane and Momo seemed to be under as they struggled to move their feet. As Hinamori attempted to take a step forward she lost her footing and began to fall over. Hitsugaya was there immediately to catch her.

"Hinamori!" He said, concerned.

"S-s-soo, he-heavy." Was all she managed to stutter out as she fell into his arms.

Hitsugaya looked up to Ichigo, who was staring blankly off into the trees. "Kurosaki, we have to leave now!" He yelled at the boy, attempting to make him focus.

"We can't" Ichigo muttered back.

"What do you mean, we can't?" Hitsugaya yelled back, he was growing more distressed as he felt Hinamori go limp in his arms and he saw Isane drop to her knees, covered in sweat.

Ichigo simply raised his hand and pointed in front of him. Hitsugaya looked up in awe, he spotted what, or rather, who Ichigo was pointing too. In front of them stood seven cloaked men, smirking menacingly.

"Who are you!?" Hitsugaya cried out at the man.

One of the cloaked figures stepped forward and spoke. "Who we are does not matter. What does matter is whether or not you value your lives." There was a long pause as Hitsugaya gazed fiercely at the figures.

The cloaked figure spoke once again. "Do you wish to die, shinigami?"

"Where's Rukia." Ichigo said with a deadly glare. Another silence as the men stared at each other.

"Are you talking about that Kuchiki bitch? I already sold her." The man said as he chuckled softly.

"Sold her?! To who? WHERE IS SHE?" Ichigo yelled.

"It wouldn't be very good for my business if I told you that." The cloaked man sighed as he lifted the side of his cloak to reveal a sheathed sword. "I wonder what kind of price you will go for?" He said as he reached to draw the sword from under his cloak. The six figures behind him reached to do the same. Ichigo was faster. Before the man got a chance to fully unsheathe his sword, Ichigo was in front of him and Zangetsu was at his throat.

The faces of the six behind the man, who appeared to be the leader, all gained a new look of shock.

The man's grin now disappeared. "You're fast. But do you honestly think I would be that easy?" He said calmly.

"I hope not." Ichigo responded seriously. The man then disappeared before Ichigo's eyes, only to appear behind Ichigo and slash his sword at his back. His sword was met with the steel of Hitsugaya's cold zanpakuto.

"I'll repeat myself." The young white haired captain said. "Who are you?"

` "I have no intention of sharing that with you." The hooded man responded as he withdrew his blade. Ichigo and Hitsugaya now stood back to back, as the remaining six figures surrounded them.

Ichigo didn't waste any time as he charged at the one nearest to him. He aimed a slash at his chest. His sword was parried by the man who twisted his sword to the side, leaving Ichigo open for an attack. He felt the pressure of one of them behind him and ducked just in time to avoid losing his head. He pulled Zangetsu free and turned to deal with the second assailant. He went for a stab at the man's stomach. He heard the soft sound of his sword puncturing the mans abdomen as the shocked cloaked figure fell to the ground, dead. _'One down.'_ The man who was behind him was not aiming a strike at Ichigo's neck whilst another figure ran in to assist. He blocked the attack with the hilt of his sword and kicked the man hard in the stomach. The attacker recoiled a few feet and gave Ichigo a moment to deal with his other attacker. The mans sword flew past his ear and into the ground. Ichigo capitalized on the chance as he placed his foot on the mans sword, driving it into the ground. He then smacked him dead center in the face with the hilt of Zangetsu, knocking him unconscious. Ichigo then turned to face the assailant he had knocked back earlier. Ichigo had made short work of the man as he swiped his feet out from under him. The man fell onto his back and received Ichigo's sword in his chest.

Ichigo looked back to where Hitsugaya stood and saw that he had dealt with his attackers as well. Now only the leader of the group remained.

Before Ichigo had a chance to attack the man, Hitsugaya spoke. "Who are you working for?" He called out.

"I already told you, I have no intention of giving you any information." The man said calmly.

"Then I guess I'll just have to force it out of you." Ichigo cried as he charged the man.

This time, the man did not hesitate to dash out-of-the-way. He jumped to a branch on one of the nearby trees. He stood tall and threw off his cloak revealing himself. His hair was a bright red color, down to his shoulders in length. His face was slender and sharp, with bright yellow eyes. Perhaps his most distinguishable feature, was the small, black hole centered on his collarbone.

"An arrancar?" Ichigo growled.

The man's grin grew even more sinister as he sheathed his sword and said, "Resurrección." The wind picked up as the man's body became encased in a white, bone-like substance. His left eye and hair were the only things that weren't closed in. His fingers grew sharp and pointed and a large double sided, black sword erupted from thin air, into his hand. His sword was long and stretched out slightly in two directions at the end. The man entire being seemed to resonate the powerful, strange pressure.

Ichigo looked to Hitsugaya. "I'm going to have to end this fast, they can't take any more of this pressure." He pointed to Isane, who was on her knees, and Momo, who was passed out beside her. Hitsugaya nodded in agreement, then jumped over to where the lieutenants were kneeling. Ichigo turned back to the mysterious arrancar. He placed Zangetsu straight out in front of him with his right arm and placed his left hand on top of his right forearm.

"Bankai." A swirl of deep, black reiatsu exploded in the area. Isane was crippled to the ground by the overwhelming force of his reiatsu. She felt as though she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders as she attempted to breathe.

Hitsugaya jumped in front of her, and attempted to shield her and Hinamori from some of Ichigo's spiritual pressure. "Don't worry, Kurosaki will end this fast." He said softly as he tried to ease the pressure she felt with his own reiatsu.

As the smoky black cloud dissapeared, Ichigo's bankai became visible. "Tensa Zangetsu."

Just as Isane felt like she was going to lose her conciousness, Ichigo's reiatsu disappeared entirely.

"Sorry, but I can't afford to screw around with you." Ichigo said to the hollow. Then, in the blink of an eye Ichigo was in front of the arrancar, with Zangetsu through his chest.

The arrancar coughed up a small amount of blood and gasped for air. "H-how?" He managed to cry out.

"Now, tell me who you're working for." Ichigo demanded.

The arrancar gave in. "H-he said his name, was..." He coughed up another small portion of blood. "G-g-Grimmjow..." His body then went limp as he fell to the ground.

"Bastard."

* * *

Boom, dropped a bit of a cliffhanger there, WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? You'll just have to wait to find out :P

So this chapter is the start of the first major story arc. Finally some action too! I've never really wrote fight/action scenes before so I hope mine aren't too confusing, I'll get better i promise :D_  
_

Reviews:

_Crimson Dragon Devil: _Yeah, that was one of the main problems i thought about with this story, Oh well... It's just fanfic after all, isn't that kinda the point?

_Phantom Claire: _Heyo bonjour! Je suis content que tu continue d'aimer l'histoire. Au sujet de la situation en Rukongai, oui il vas faire quelque chose eventuellement. Je suis pas encore comment je vais incorperer Ganju et Kukkaku, mais il vas pas avoir la relation de famille car l'histoire arrive avant ca. So... yeah, merci j'espere que tu a aimer la chapitre!

_IchigoMoonCutter:_ Trust me, if i do decide to go with pairings etc... I won't cause it to be too dramatic. This is mainly an adventure story and i don't plan for it to be too romance focused if at all.

Thanks to those who reviewed/fav'd/followed, see you all next week!


	5. A Short Trip

Yes, yes, it's a day late i know, sorry. Had a busy week. enjoy

* * *

The large, living world sun rose over Karakura town. The night had been long and dark, but as summer approached the sun began to rise earlier and set later. The days were getting longer. Isane's eyes fluttered open as the light began to penetrate through her eyelids. She felt disoriented, where was she? How did she get here? What happened last night? She recalled the memories of the strange arrancar, and then she remembered her captains fighting, and then... His Bankai. _'It was so powerful' _She thought.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she took in her surroundings. A small wooden room, no larger than ten feet in all directions. She lay on a small mattress on the floor in the center of the room. The light that had woke her came from a window on the far side of the room. Other than that, there was nothing else in the room. She noted the door to her left and rose to a sitting position. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, she felt well rested. _'How long have I been here?' _She asked herself as she rose and went for the door. As she was reaching the door she heard a voice on the other side, getting closer. She opened the door cautiously and stepped out... Into a hard, moving surface.

"And here I thought you were going to sleep all day." The soft sound of Ichigo's voice echoed through the hall. She stumbled back in surprise and found herself on the floor, looking up at the grinning, orange haired boy.

"Kur-K... I mean, Captain Kurosaki!" She stuttered in embarrassment.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Stop calling me that, it makes me feel like I'm a thousand years old." Isane stood up tall and was about to apologize when the other young captain poked his head in from down the hall.

"Kotetsu, Kurosaki! Move it, I don't want to waste any more time!" Hitsugaya commanded.

"Yes Mom!" Ichigo teased back as he motioned in the direction of Hitsugaya to Isane and turned to leave. She nervously scurried after them, not wanting to anger the 10th squad captain.

At the end of the hallway was a larger square-shaped room, with a small table in the center and a few bookcases of to the side. Isane followed as Ichigo walked to the north side of the room towards a latter leading down into the earth. He then hopped onto the latter and slid down, she did the same.

Hitsugaya was impatiently waiting for them at the bottom of the latter. The basement was a place she recognized. A massive open clearing of sand and small mountains that seemed to stretch endlessly in all directions.

"Are we in Captain Urahara's basement?"

"Yeah."

The immediate area around the bottom of the latter was a flat, desert like clearing. As she stepped of the latter and looked around she asked,

"Where's Hinamori?"

"We sent her back to Soul society. She was really shaken up by that arrancars reiatsu." Hitsugaya responded.

"Oh..." Isane mumbled as she trembled slightly, thinking about how she was now alone with two of the strongest captains in all of the Gotei 13. She didn't want to slow them down.

Ichigo noticed her uneasiness and tried to relieve her worries. "Don't worry Isane, you're strong. We'll have Rukia back in no time!"

Her nerves were calmed slightly by his comforting words. She then asked her next question. "But what are we doing in Captain Urahara's basement?"

Ichigo piped up once again. "Oh yeah... We, uhm. We're going to Hueco Mundo!" He said, sounding confident.

"Right now? Just the three of us?" She said surprised.

"Yah!"

She kicked herself for asking such an obvious question. _Its okay, I'll be fine. Kurosaki and Hitsugaya are with me.'_ She tried to reassure herself. The last time she had come back from Hueco Mundo she was plagued with nightmares for weeks. She shuddered at the thought of returning. She came back to her senses and realised she was shaking slighty. She was shocked as she felt Ichigo place his hand on her shoulder, he gave her another reassuring smile.

"It'll be quick alright? I won't let anything happen to anyone." He whispered softly, so that only she could hear.

"Are we good to go?" Hitsugaya interrupted, impatiently. Isane nodded.

"Yeah, open it up!" Ichigo called.

Hitsugaya then raised his hand and a large Garganta tore a hole into the sky infront of them. He leaped into the hole and disapeared with Ichigo and Isane trailing close behind him.

* * *

Kira raised his eyes as a knock sounded from his door. Before he got the chance to address the knocker, the door burst open and a small blonde girl flew into his office.

"Lieutenant Kira!"

"Yes?" Kira raised an eyebrow at the out-of-breath woman before him.

"An Emergency Captains meeting has been called. Since the captain is currently absent it's your duty to attend in his place."

"Emergency? What's the emergency?" He asked curiously.

"I don't know, you better hurry."

"Yeah…" He set his pen and paperwork down and set off for the meeting hall.

* * *

Kira hated attending the squad meetings. One of the things he liked the most about finally having a captain was that he didn't have to go the damn meetings anymore. _'But as fate would have it, a meeting would be called while the capt__ains away!'_ He thought to himself as he approached the 1st squad building.

"Kira!" A loud, female voice called from behind him.

He spun around to see who was calling him. "Matsumoto, are you coming to the meting too?"

The busty blonde approached as Kira waited for her. "Of course, Hitsugaya's away with Kurosaki, I'm here for the same reason you are." She looked away to the 1st squad barracks infront of them.

"Ever been to an emergency meeting before?" She asked.

"This will be my first." Kira sighed.

"I wonder what it's about."

Kira reached out for the door. "Let's hope it's something good."

All the captains except for Kurotsuchi and Ukitake were already present in the meeting hall when Kira and Matsumoto entered. They received a few glances from them before the captain commander spoke up from his seat at the front of the room.

"Now that we have all arrived we can begin." He said as Kira and Matsumoto quickly scurried off to the spot where their captains would normally stand.

"Captain, I must ask what is on all our minds. What is this 'emergency meeting' for?" Komamura asked.

"It is concerning the disappearance of Rukia Kuchiki." He replied calmly.

Byakuya failed to hold himself back as he called out. "Did Kurosaki and Hitsugaya find her in the living world?"

Yamamoto raised his hand to silence Byakuya. "Patience, Captain Kuchiki. Allow me to speak."

Byakuya recoiled in embarrassment and stepped back into his noble shell of indifference.

The captain commander spoke again. "As I was saying, it appears the team I sent to locate Lieutenant Kuchiki has gone to Hueco Mundo, as they disappeared from the living world earlier today. Now, normally this wouldn't be strange for them to expand their search to the hollow dimension. However, Lieutenant Kuchiki is not in Hueco Mundo."

At that moment everyone's attention was drawn to the large hallway doors that began to open. Into the room stepped Ukitake and Kurotsuchi. Eyes all around the room opened wide as they saw a third person trailing behind the captains.

"Rukia?" Byakuya awed at the sight before him. Rukia was indeed there.

"I'm sorry…" She said softly. She looked around the room, into the faces of all the people staring at her. She fell to her knee's and began sobbing softly. "I don't remember any of you."

Yamamoto spoke before anyone else had the chance. "She came through the senkaimon this morning, and was found by Captain Ukitake." The captain commander paused briefly. "However, it appears that she has no memory of her life up to this point. The only people she seems to remember are Ukitake and…" He trailed off and paused once again.

"And?" Byakuya said impatiently.

"And Captain Kurosaki."

* * *

The Gargantua opened in a sandy dune. Ichigo, Hitsugaya and Isane all stepped out and paused to take in their surroundings. It was mostly plain, with sand stretching across the plane as far as the eye could see. The palace of Los Noches could be seen in the distance.

"I was wondering when Soul Society would send someone." A voice passed through the desert. The three looked in the direction the voice came from and saw a figure in the distance, heading towards them. As the figure came closer into view Hitsugaya's eyes widened.

"You…"

The figure approached. It was a curvy blonde female, wearing a plain white vest that left her stomach uncovered and concealed the bottom half of her face.

"Tier Harribel." Hitsugaya said.

The espada stood now stood a few feet in front of them and raised an eyebrow as she saw the young, white-haired captain. "I was not expecting to ever see you again." She said, mildly surprised. Her attention turned to Ichigo. "And you, Ichigo Kurosaki."

"I'm sorry but we don't have time to chat." Ichigo said. "We're looking for Grimmjow, do you know where we can find him?"

Harribel sighed. "Yes, yes. I know why you are here. The dark-haired shinigami isn't here, nor is Grimmjow."

"How did you-!?"

"I sent the girl back to Soul Society." She cut him off.

Ichigo stared at her, shocked. "Wait? What happened to Grimmjow?

"He captured that girl to lure you to him. He wanted to fight you."

Ichigo's mouth hit the ground. "HE TOOK HER JUST SO I WOULD COME AND FIND HER, AND HE COULD FIGHT ME?!" Ichigo cried.

"Yes."

Ichigo continued to steam angrily. "I'm gonna kill that bastard!"

Hitsugaya drew her attention when he spoke up. "Wait… You said you sent Rukia back to Soul Society. What happened to Grimmjow?"

Harribel stiffened and became very serious. "It seems as though Grimmjow has disapeared, I found the girl in the desert, unconcious, this morning and I havn't felt even a trace of Grimmjows being since last night."

"Hmm…" Hitsugaya pondered. "Thank you for your help, Harribel." He turned to Ichigo. "We're leaving."

"What? What about what happened to Grimmjow?" Ichigo replied anxiously.

"Our assignment is to return Kuchiki to Soul Society. If what Harribel says is true, then our mission is complete." He said as he opened a Gargantua in front of them. "Don't go breaking the rules on your first official mission, Kurosaki."

Ichigo grunted in distaste. "Fine, let's get out of here." He thanked Harribel and turned to follow Hitsugaya into the Gargantua.

* * *

It was a calm, warm night in Soul Society as the senkaimon flared open to allow Ichigo, Toshiro and Isane back into the seireitei.

"You guys sure took your time, I've been here all afternoon!" A teasing Kyoraku said as he rested against the side of the senkaimon.

"Shunsui! Is Rukia here? Is she alright." Ichigo called to the laxed 8th squad captain.

"Yeah… She's here. Her condition though… Is strange." He replied.

Ichigo's face grew concerned. "Strange? What do you mean?"

Kyoraku rose to his feet and began to head off. "Walk with me, I'll explain on the way." The three hastily followed him deeper into the seireitei. After walking silently for a short while, Shunsui spoke again. "She doesn't remember anything."

"What?"

"Literally, she doesn't remember anything that's happened in her life."

Ichigo stared blankly at Kyoraku. "You're kidding."

"Wish I was. It's as if she forgot everyone she ever knew."

Ichigo was caught speechless. His mind raced as he struggled to comprehend if he was in a dream or not.

"There is an exception, of course." Kyoraku started again. Ichigo's eyes grew wide. "She still remembers Ukitake."

"H-how? How could this happen?" He said softly to himself, his mind racing.

"And you."

Ichigo looked up. "And me what?"

"She seems to remember you as well."

Ichigo's eyebrows raised once again. "Why? Why would she remember me and no one else?!"

"Maybe you should ask her yourself." Kyoraku replied as he pointed to the first divisions barracks ahead of them.

Ichigo glanced at Shunsui then rushed towards the large squad building without a second thought, sending himself through the door in the blink of an eye.

Inside the large meeting hall Rukia sat in a seat in the corner, along with Yamamoto, Ukitake and Byakuya. They all turned in surprise as Ichigo came bursting through the door.

"RUKIA!" He yelled as he flew into the room and looked around.

"Ichigo?" She replied as he spotted her in the corner of the room.

"Rukia what's going on?" He replied as he walked over to her and the other captains.

"Ichigo do I really know these people?" She pointed to Byakuya and Yamamoto.

Ichigo noticed the dried marks from tears on her face. He saw Byakuya giving him a harsh that spelled 'don't agitate her or I'll rip your body to shreds'. He tried to speak in the most calm, soothing way possible as to not frighten her. "Yeah… You do. Do you really not remember them at all.?"

She shook her head and burned her eyes into the floor. Ichigo noticed she was about to start sobbing again and acted quickly to calm her. He rushed to her side and knelt in front of her, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry. You're exhausted, get some rest for tonight. We can figure this out in the morning, yeah?" He looked to Ukitake who took the hint and grabbed Rukia's arm to lead her to somewhere she could sleep. As she rose to follow Ukitake she turned to Ichigo and said, "Thank you." Before disappearing through the doorway.

Ichigo then turned his attention to Byakuya and Yamamoto. "What the hell is going

"It appears…" Yamamoto started. "That what Kuchiki says is true. She really does not remember."

"How can she remember me, but not her own brother? It doesn't make sense." The mood in the room stiffened as Byakuya now spoke.

"These reasons we do not know. However, I think it would be wise for you to think carefully about what you say around Rukia. She could be very easily… 'Influenced' by you." He said partly scowling.

Yamamoto took the insinuating silence as a chance to speak once again. "Urahara and Kurotsuchi are going to be investigating her condition. Until we know more about her condition I think it would be best that you keep your distance from Kuchiki." Ichigo looked displeased but said nothing. "You are dismissed, Kurosaki."

Ichigo scowled as he left the room to find Kyoraku… He needed a drink.

* * *

Eh, busy week like i said at the top. Couldn't write much. I'm in a bit of a rush so I won't be doing Q/A this chapter sorry.

Until next week!


	6. Recruits

Hot and fresh new chapter! Enjoy

* * *

Four days had passed since Rukia's return to Soul Society. Ichigo had obeyed Yamamoto's orders to avoid her so far, much to his dislike of course. But then again, It's not like he would be able to see her anyways. Mayuri was keeping her locked up in his barracks 24/7. If he didn't trust Urahara to make sure Kurotsuchi didn't completely maim her, he probably would have broken in to check on her by now.

His first few days back were spent mostly resting and catching up on his paperwork. But after three busy days of sleep and paper work, he finally found himself with nothing to do. He really hadn't had much time to figure out what to do with his spare time, and after he found out that the salary he received for being a captain was absolutely massive, he found himself wondering how to spend days like this one. He sat idly in his office as he tried to think of something to keep him occupied. He finally settled on a plan. He figured it was best for him to try to keep his mind off things by staying busy, so that's exactly what he planned to do.

* * *

Hikari Sayuri stood facing her opponent in the center of the large 3rd squad training grounds. She hesitated as the boy she was fighting launched a strike. At the last possible seconds she managed to sidestep it. Sighing in relief, she turned to see the boy slashing at her once again. She hadn't expected this, as the sword approached her torso she began to panic. Was she going to die? Why was she such a weak shinigami? All these thoughts rolled through her mind as the blade threatened to pierce her skin. The boy she fought, realized she was not going to be able to defend herself and thankfully, stopped his blade just a few inches from her small, fragile figure. Her sigh of relief was large as she silently thanked the boy for not killing her.

"Stop being so hesitant to defend yourself." The voice came as a shock to her as she recognised the tone. She turned to look to her left to see who the voice was coming from. Sure enough, Ichigo Kurosaki sat relaxed against one of the large spruce tree's to her left. 'How long has he been there?' She thought.

"Every time he attacks you, you hesitate until the last possible moment to try to defend yourself." He said calmly. "Don't hesitate, just do it. Stop thinking about it." Then he was beside her. "Go ahead." He told the boy she was sparring with.

The boy swallowed hard at the thought of the captain watching him, he attacked her even faster than before. The moment Hikari saw the boy's blade dancing towards her she instinctively froze up, not knowing what to do.

Seeing that the boy's blade was about to lob her head off, Ichigo reached out and snatched the blade in his hand, stopping it before it could ruin the girls day.

'He really has a knack for catching swords.' She found herself falling backwards as she made a delayed effort to get away from the sword. 'I guess that's probably a good thing, cause I would be so dead if he didn't. Why do I have to be so fucking weak?! The captain probably thinks I'm a total idiot!' She whined to herself as she rose back to her feet.

"Geez, you sure are prone to getting stabbed eh?" Ichigo chuckled as he released the boy's sword.

'Why is he making jokes? Shouldn't he be scolding me, telling me I'm weak, then kicking me out of his squad cause I'm hopeless?' Her train of thought was interrupted when she heard a small chorus of muffled laughter from behind her. As she turned around she realised practically everyone in the training grounds was watching her. Her face went beet red and she saw where the stifled laughter was coming from. Low-and behold, there he was, 'everyone's favorite stuck-up prick Kuchiki kid.' She thought. He was simply standing there with his group of 'Dumbfuck nobles,' or so she liked to call them. He was of course, the highest ranking of the group, belonging to one of the great four noble houses and all.

Before she could think twice and hold herself back, she took a step towards him and yelled, "Is something funny!?" her expression delivering her full emotions to the boy. But, he didn't do anything. That's what pissed her off the most. He just stood there with his big stupid grin and continued to give her a teasing glare.

"Why don't you do that when you fight?!" Ichigo's voice exclaimed from behind her. She wheeled around to look back at the captain, her confused expression demanding an explanation. "You didn't hesitate to whip around and call him out, that's how you need to act while fighting. Don't think, just do."

Before she could say anything in return a call from across the grounds interrupted them. "Captain?!" Ichigo raised his brow as he watched a slender, dark haired male cross the field towards him.

"Uhm… Hello?" Ichigo said as the man drew near.

The man dropped to a deep bow before Ichigo. "Asuka Katakura sir, 6th seat. It is a great pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, hey…" Ichigo replied. "Can I help you Asuka?"

"What? Oh no, sir! I'm in charge of training this group of recruits. I was just surprised to see you here that's all. Was there something you need?"

"Uhh, nope. I just had some free time on my hands. Figured I'd see what was going on around the squad. You don't mind me sticking around, helping out here do you? I can leave if you would prefer…" Ichigo replied modestly.

"Oh! Of course not, sir! It would be an honor to have your assistance."

"Alright cool, just uhh… Take it away, Katakura." Ichigo said calmly. Katakura nodded and took the recruits attention.

"Alright newbies! The captain's going to be joining us today, I don't want to see any slacking off!" He mocked. "Now separate yourselves into teams of two and find a spot to spar."

The crowd quickly dispersed as they split into pairs and spread out across the field. Around twelve pairs in total. At Katakura's command, they began to spar. Ichigo once again found his spot on the ground leaning against the large spruce tree just on the outside of the training ground clearing. He watched Hikari go off with a new partner now. The moment she began to fight, a large grin plastered his face. He could immediately tell she was fighting much less hesitantly. Allowing her instincts to guide her.

'Is teaching supposed to be this easy?' He asked himself confidently. He started to observe the other members of the group. He was actually pleasantly surprised. 'These guys actually aren't half bad.' He watched as Katakura walked around, in between the various battles, giving advice and assistance here and there.

"Reminds me of our first fight."

"What the FU-" Ichigo jumped at the sound of Renji's voice right beside him. "RENJI? HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN STANDING THERE!" Ichigo yelled at the red head who was now beside him.

"Geez, you're a pretty shitty captain if you can't even sense when someone super tough like me is beside you." Renji teased with a fake 'all mighty' expression.

Ichigo relaxed again. "Sorry, I can only sense strong people." He teased back. "…" Renji's expression was priceless.

"Fuck you."

"Woah, woah, woah! Better watch your tongue around a respectable captain like myself." Ichigo mocked, trying his best to channel his inner Byakuya.

They just blankly stared at each other for a few seconds, before simultaneously bursting out into laughter.

"That was perfect." Renji chuckled as he sat down beside him.

"Thanks, I was practicing all morning in front of the mirror." Ichigo replied sarcastically. The lighthearted conversation felt good to Ichigo. 'With all the stuff about Rukia going on, it feels good to loosen up a bit.' He thought.

"So what are you doing here, Renji?" He asked.

"Oh, me? Captain Kuchiki gave me the day off, he said the extra paperwork helps him keep his mind off… 'things.'"

"So you came to bother me on your day off?" Ichigo replied nonchalantly.

"Actually I came to see if Kira was up for a drink but he's not here. I figured you were my next best option."

"A drink? Renji, it's not even noon yet."

Renji just shrugged. "It's nine o'clock somewhere in the world." Ichigo rolled his eyes at this, but decided to leave it at that. A half hour of casual chit-chat passed and Katakura now had the trainees doing some sort of meditating exercise.

"Whats that?" Ichigo asked

"It's a form of meditation that helps you learn to connect with your zanpakuto. Its like jinzen training."

"Hmm… I never did it." Ichigo shrugged

"Yeah well, not everyone's blade is constantly in its shikai. Some of us actually have to work for that!" Renji exclaimed.

"Don't forget the ol' Bankai in two days."

"How could I forget." The red-head sighed.

The duo continued on with their mindless chatter for a few more minutes until they were interrupted by a piercing loud scream. They both immediately jumped and looked in the direction of the piercing sound. It came from a girl, who stood over a boy lying on the ground clutching his right arm, it was cut to pieces. Ichigo dashed across the field to the scene.

"Christ, can you guys go five minutes without almost killing each other?" He said as he knelt beside the girl to have a closer inspection of the boy's arm. It was worse than he originally thought. A large gash was sprawled across the underside of his wrist. The arm was definitely broken, Ichigo could see the bone sticking out. _'Hell, this things barely still attached.' _He thought.

He looked to the girl who he assumed was the boy's partner. "You know... You're supposed to uhh, not try to kill each other when you're training."

The girl stumbled back in fear as she noticed him beside her. "I wasn't trying to! I swear! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! Oh my god what did I do." She cried.

"Relax, he's gonna be fine... I think. I'll uhh, take him to the fourth squad."

Renji then appeared beside him. "You better hurry, that kid's turning blue from blood loss." He said, concerned. Ichigo nodded and hoisted the into his arms, he hesitated to dash away with him when he saw the boys distraught partner.

"What have I done, what should I do?" She whispered to herself.

"Hey." Ichigo called to her.

"She looked up to him. "S-sir?" she stuttered

"Just chill, okay? He's gonna be fine." Ichigo reassured her. He turned back to Renji and nodded towards the girl. "You're good at dealing with distressed women right?" He teased. He only caught a glimpse of the priceless look on the pineapple head's face before he dashed away, headed for the 4th division.

* * *

_'It's rather convenient that the 4th squad relief center is so close to my barracks.' _Ichigo thought as he touched down on the ground in front of the 4th squad relief center's entrance. The idea crossed his mind that maybe Yamamoto gave him 3rd squad for that reason. He smirked to himself as he pushed one of the doors open with his foot.

He entered into what seemed like a regular, human hospital. It was a large room with a great big reception desk on one side and what appeared to be a waiting room on the other. The place even smelt like a hospital to him. The waiting room was scarcely populated, only a few people sat there. A few nurses dressed in the typical pink relief center outfit wandered through the lobby, heading down the many hallways and through the doorways around the room.

Ichigo noticed he was getting a few concerned looks from various people around the room. He realised he must look rather unsettling covered in the blood of the young boy that lay unconscious in his arms.

"Captain Kurosaki?" The call came from across the room, a young girl standing at the end of one of the hallways in the waiting room. Pale, tall, grey hair.

"Heyo, Isane!" Ichigo yelled back cheerfully.

"Are you- uhm... wh- are you alright?" She asked hesitantly, noting the blood spewed on his haori.

"Yeah, never been better." He replied.

"Oh... Is he alright?" She asked pointing to the boy in his arms.

"Oh yeah, uh... No, he might need some help. Could you do that?" He replied tentatively.

As she drew closer her eyes widened when she saw the mangled, bloody appendage that was the boy's arm.

"Oh my." She said as she came in to inspect the boy. Isane quickly turned to the receptionist who was seated at the front desk, observing. "Prepare a room immediately! I have a patient that needs emergency treatment!" She yelled to the receptionist.

"Yes, Lieutenant! Right away!" The nurse replied before scrambling to her feet and running through a door to her right.

"Bring him this way." Isane told Ichigo. She led him through the door the receptionist ran into. Inside was a long, wide hallway with doors on either side, each door with a number inscribed on it. There were lots of nurses in this hallway, they all jumped out-of-the-way as they saw the lieutenant and a captain racing down the hallway with a bloody boy in the captains arms.

"Hey, Isane! What's the big deal? He just cut his arm up, right?" Ichigo questioned, now growing concerned at how serious the 4th squads lieutenant had become.

"No, that boy's been poisoned." She replied.

"What!? That can't be right, are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure! His skin is turning black!" She yelled back as she quickened her pace.

Ichigo looked down to the boy and noticed for the first time that where the boy's skin was once a chalky white, it was not being infested by spots of a swampy black tone. "Oh... Shit." They finally reached their destination as Isane stopped and cranked open a door beside them. A small group of nurses were already patiently waiting in the room.

"Set him down there, please." Isane pointed to a small bed in the center of the room. Ichigo did as he was told then backed away as the nurses swarmed around the boy.

"I'm going to have to ask that you leave, Captain." Isane said as she set upon the boys inured limb.

"Oh... Sure." Ichigo said timidly as he backed out of the room and shut the door behind him.

* * *

Oh kay well, thats all I got for this week. Had a little more OC action this chapter (Katakura isn't an OC if you're up to date on the manga.) The plot of this story is going to be blown wide open soon so look forward to that :)

Didn't get too many reviews again so I wont be answering those. Just wanna thank Phantom Claire for reviewing practically every chapter, He's a bro! Merci ;)

I don't know if anyone has figured it out yet but Isane is like my fave bleach character (others would be Kira, Kyoraku, Tatsuki, Matsumoto and Ichimaru. (((FUCKING ICHIMARU WAS MY **ALL TIME FAVE** BUT HE DIED I WAS SO **PISSED** LIKE UGH!)))) Anyways yeah, I love Isane's character and I'm kinda determined to make you love her too!

K well that's it, peace out broski's until next time!


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